UCD School of Music

Scoil an Cheoil UCD

Welcome to UCD School of Music

UCD has a long musical history. The University’s first Chair of Music was created in 1914; ever since, it has contributed vitally to musical life in Dublin and in Ireland as a whole. Today, UCD’s School of Music is one of the country’s leading centres of musical research. It has played a central role in the development of Irish musical scholarship, and has current strengths in musicology, ethnomusicology and musical analysis. We have over 200 students and six full-time permanent members of staff with wide-ranging research interests: specialisations include music and Irish cultural history, nineteenth-century instrumental music, the theory of musical form, North-Indian sacred music, African-American music, medieval and baroque music, and music and representations of death.

We offer students a diverse curriculum and the chance to study in a supportive and friendly environment. Undergraduates can pursue music through the BA programme; they can also study for the more specialised BMus degree, entry to which is by entrance test. We also offer three postgraduate programmes: the MMus, the only designated master in musicology in Ireland, a new curriculum for which will be introduced from September 2011; the MPhil, a two-year researched degree; and the PhD. Our curriculum gives students the chance to engage with fundamental questions of how music develops historically, of what it means socially and culturally, and of how to understand musical structure. The School also has three major performing ensembles, in which students can participate for credit: The UCD Symphony Orchestra, which performs annually in the National Concert Hall; the UCD Choral Scholars, who perform throughout Ireland and abroad; and the UCD Philharmonic Choir.

Please follow the links above for more information on our undergraduate and graduate programmes, modules, staff profiles, concerts, seminar series and other events. If you have further questions, please contact us on 01 716 8178 or at music@ucd.ie.

Professor Julian Horton
Head of School